Insertion apparatus

ABSTRACT

An insertion apparatus includes: an introducing duct including; insertion portion cover portion for covering an insertion portion extending from a distal side portion of a handling portion constituting an endoscope; and a spiral duct which is disposed on an inner circumferential surface side of the insertion portion cover portion, and has on a circumferential surface of the spiral duct, a propulsion power generating portion for applying a propulsion power for introducing the insertion portion into a deep portion in a body cavity, to the insertion portion covered by the insertion portion cover, and a rotating device comprising a rotating portion for rotating the spiral duct equipped to the introducing duct.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of PCT/JP2005/008918filed on May 16, 2005 and claims benefit of Japanese Application No.2004-145694 filed in Japan on May 14, 2004, the entire contents of whichare incorporated herein by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an insertion apparatus for generating apropulsion power to introduce an insertion portion into an examinee'sbody.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, an endoscope equipped with an elongated insertion portionhaving flexibility has been utilized in inspection, treatment, or thelike in the medical field. With the endoscope, not only observation ofan intracavital organ and the like may be performed without incision byinserting the insertion portion into an intracavital region, but also avariety of therapies and treatments may be performed by introducing anaccessory into an intracavital region through a treatment deviceinsertion channel provided in the insertion portion as needed. In theendoscope, a bending section is provided at the distal side of theinsertion portion. The bending section can be made to bend in, forexample, up and down directions, left and right directions, or the likeby performing forward/backward movements of a manipulation wireconnected with bending parts constituting the bending section. Themanipulation wire is to be moved forward/backward by rotatingmanipulation of, for example, a bending knob provided at a manipulationsection.

When performing endoscopy, the insertion portion must be inserted intoan intricately structured intracavital region. When the insertionportion is inserted into a intricately structured lumer, for example, acolon or the like which describes 360 degree loop, an operatormanipulates the bending knob to bend the bending section, and performshand manipulation such as twist manipulation of the insertion portion tomove the distal end of the insertion portion toward a target portion tobe observed.

However, a skill is required to be able to introduce the insertionportion to the deepest part of the intricately structured colon smoothlyin a short time without giving pain to a patient. In other words, thereexists a risk that loss of the intended insertion direction may occurwhen inserting the insertion portion into a deep portion, and a changein shape of the intestine may be caused when inserting the insertionportion into a deep portion of the intestine. Accordingly, variousproposals for improving insertability of the insertion portion have beenmade.

There is disclosed a propulsion device for a medical device whichenables easy introduction of the medical device into a deep portion of alive body duct with low invasiblity, for example, in Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open Publication No. H10-113396. In the propulsiondevice, a rib declining relative to the axial direction of a rotatingmember is provided at the rotating member. Accordingly, rotating powerof the rotating member is converted to propulsion power by the rib byrotation of the rotating member and the medical device connected to thepropulsion device is moved in a direction toward the deep portion by thepropulsion power.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An insertion apparatus of the present invention includes: an introducingduct, including; insertion portion cover portion for covering aninsertion portion extending from a distal side portion of a handlingportion constituting an endoscope; and a spiral duct which is disposedon an inner circumferential surface side of the insertion portion coverportion, and has, on a circumferential surface of the spiral duct, apropulsion power generating portion for applying a propulsion power forintroducing the insertion portion into a deep portion in a body cavity,to the insertion portion covered by the insertion portion cover, and arotating device comprising a rotating portion for rotating the spiralduct equipped to the introducing duct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a construction of an insertionapparatus;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a construction of an introducing ductincluding a partial cross-section diagram;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section diagram taken on line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a construction of a distal side portionof a handling portion in which a proximal portion body constituting theintroducing duct is disposed;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relation between the introducing ductand an endoscope inserted into an insertion portion cover of theintroducing duct;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a construction of a rotating mechanismportion;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state where the introducing duct in whichan insertion portion of the endoscope is inserted to be disposed isinserted from the anus;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state where a distal portion body of theintroducing duct in which the insertion portion of the endoscope isinserted to be disposed is inserted near the cecum portion;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating another exemplary constructionof the distal side portion of the handling portion;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the distal side portion of the handlingportion and a partial cross-section diagram thereof shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a proximal portion body provided witheyemarks for informing disposed positions of convex stopping portions;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an introducing duct of anotherconstruction;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged diagram illustrating a construction near thedistal portion of the introducing duct;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary construction of thedistal portion body constituting the introducing duct;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating other exemplary construction of thedistal portion body constituting the introducing duct;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating stop grooves formed at the distalportion of the endoscope and the distal side portion of the handlingportion;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a construction of the introducing ductin which a cover member is adhered to the insertion portion of theendoscope;

FIG. 18 a perspective view illustrating another construction of theintroducing duct;

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal direction cross-section diagram illustratingthe construction of the introducing duct in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an introducing duct equipped with anelectromagnetic valve for carrying out supply control of fluid;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary operation of theelectromagnetic valve;

FIG. 22 a diagram illustrating another construction of switches carryingout fluid control;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view illustrating an introducing duct in whichthe insertion portion of the endoscope is disposed between an air andwater supply nozzle and an aperture of an aspiration channel;

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary construction of theintroducing duct characterized in the construction of the spiral duct;

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary construction of theintroducing duct characterized in the construction of the spiral duct;

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating another construction of theintroducing duct;

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary construction of aninsertion portion distal portion of the endoscope provided in theintroducing duct shown in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary construction of theinsertion portion distal portion of the endoscope disposed in theintroducing duct shown in FIG. 26;

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an insertion portion having anaperture of the insertion duct line disposed in the introducing ductshown in FIG. 26;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with referenceto FIG. 1 to FIG. 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, an insertion apparatus 1 of the embodiment includesan endoscope 2 and an endoscope insertion ancillary device 3.

The endoscope 2 comprises an insertion portion (see reference numeral 11in FIG. 2), a handling portion 12 provided at the proximal side of theinsertion portion 11, and an universal cord 13 extending from a sideportion of the handling portion 12. An accessory inlet 14 and the likeare provided at a distal side portion of the handling portion 12 of theendoscope 2. The accessory inlet 14 communicates with an accessoryinsertion channel (not shown) for introducing an accessory into anintracavital region.

For the endoscope 2, a light source device 4, a video processor 5, and amonitor 6 are provided as external devices. The light source device 4provides illumination light to the endoscope 2. The video processor 5includes a controlling circuit for carrying out various controllingoperations, a signal processing circuit, and the like. The videoprocessor 5 provides a driving signal for driving an image pick updevice (not shown) provided in the endoscope 2 and generates an imagesignal from an electric signal photoelectrically converted in the imagepickup device and transmitted therefrom to output to the monitor 6. Onthe image screen of the monitor 6, an endoscope image is displayed byreceiving the image signal output from the video processor 5.

The endoscope insertion ancillary device 3 includes an introducing duct20 and a rotating device 40.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the introducing duct 20 comprises a distalportion body 21 and a proximal portion body 22, a cover member 23, and aspiral duct 24. The distal portion body 21, the proximal portion body22, and the cover member 23 constitute an insertion portion cover 10 asinsertion portion covering means. The spiral duct 24 is a member forgenerating propulsion power as described below.

The spiral duct 24 is formed in a tubular shape by coiling a metal wire24 a having a predetermined diameter made of, for example, stainless inspiral state to have a predetermined flexibility. Therefore, a spiralportion 24 b which is a propulsion power generating portion formed bythe surface of the metal wire 24 a is provided on the outer surface ofthe spiral duct 24.

The cover member 23 constituting the insertion portion cover 10 isformed by an elongated tube of flexible resin having a small frictionalresistance, for example, Teflon™. The distal portion body 21constituting the insertion portion cover 10 is cylindrical. Moreover,the distal portion body 21 is formed of a transparent resin memberhaving an optical property, for example, polycarbonate. The distal faceof the distal portion body 21 is constituted by a closing window portion21 a. In the distal portion body 21, a distal portion 15 constitutingthe insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is disposed covered by thedistal portion body 21. The inner diameter of the distal portion body 21is larger than the outer diameter of the distal portion 15 so that apredetermined space is formed between the inner circumferential surfaceof the distal portion body 21 and the outer circumferential surface ofthe distal portion 15.

A first shoulder 21 b and a second shoulder 21 c are formed in thisorder from the proximal side on the outer circumferential surface of theproximal portion side which is an aperture side of the distal portionbody 21. One end of the cover member 23 is coated to be disposed in awater-tight manner by, for example, adhesion at the first shoulder 21 b.One end of the spiral duct 24 is integrally fixed by adhesion or thelike at the second shoulder 21 c. That is, one end of the cover member23 and one end of the spiral duct 24 are respectively integrally fixedat the corresponding first shoulder 21 b and second shoulder 21 c in thedistal portion body 21.

On the other hand, the proximal portion body 22 constituting theinsertion portion cover 10 is tubular. The proximal portion body 22 isformed of a resin member having a good tribological property, such aspolyacetal. The proximal portion body 22 includes a rotating fix portion25 and a connecting fix portion 26. The rotating fix portion 25 isarranged near a break stop (see reference numeral 12 a in FIG. 2 andFIG. 5) constituting the distal end side of the handling portion 12.Four convex stopping portions 25 a, for example, forming an inclinedplane are provided at an even interval in the circumferential directionon the proximal side of the inner circumferential surface of therotating fix portion 25. The connecting fix portion 26 is constituted sothat another end of the cover member 23 and another end of the spiralduct 24 are fixed. Specifically, a connecting groove portion 26 a isformed in the connecting fix portion 26. Another end of the cover member23 is coated to be disposed and another end of the spiral duct 24 isdisposed in the connecting groove portion 26 a. Then, in thearrangement, adhesion bond is applied to another end of the cover member23 and the spiral duct 24. Thereby, another end of the cover member 23is integrally fixed to the proximal portion body 22 in a water-tightmanner and another end of the spiral duct 24 is integrally fixed to theproximal portion body 22.

Therefore, the insertion portion cover 10 in which the cover member 23is fixed to the distal portion body 21 and the proximal portion body 22in a water-tight manner and having an elongated inner space isconstituted. Then, the distal portion 15 of the insertion portion 11 ofthe endoscope 2 is inserted from the aperture of the proximal portionbody 22 into the inner space, and then the distal portion 15 is passedthrough the cover member 23 to be disposed at the inner circumferentialsurface side of the distal portion body 21. By doing so, the distalportion 15, a bending section 16, and a flexible duct portion 17constituting the insertion portion 11 are covered by the insertionportion cover 10.

Note that the spiral duct 24 is not limited to the single stripconstitution but may be formed by winding many strips (for example, twostrips, four strips, or the like). Besides, when the metal wire 24 a iswound in a spiral state, properties of the spiral duct 24 can bevariously set by changing the degree of adhesion between portions of themetal wire 24 a and by variously changing the angle of the spiral.

As shown in FIG. 4, a circumferential groove portion (hereinafter,abbreviated as circumferential groove) 31 and a stop groove 32 to bestopping portion are provided in this order from the insertion portion11 side at the distal side portion of the handling portion 12. Theconvex stopping portions 25 a formed on the inner circumferentialsurface of the rotating fix portion 25 are freely disposed in thecircumferential groove 31. The convex stopping portions 25 a areengageably inserted to be arranged at the stop groove 32.

The width W1 of the circumferential groove 31 is formed larger than thewidth of the convex stopping portions 25 a so that the convex stoppingportion 25 a can be rotationally moved smoothly along thecircumferential groove 31. On the other hand, the width W2 of the stopgroove 32 is formed to be the same as the width of the convex stoppingportions 25 a and is formed at a predetermined position.

Therefore, the convex stopping portions 25 a formed at the rotating fixportion 25 are disposed at the circumferential groove 31 under the statewhere the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is disposed in theinner space of the insertion portion cover 10 constituting theintroducing duct 20 as shown in the lower half of the drawing of FIG. 5.Consequently, a space 33 is formed between the back surface 21 d of theclosing window portion 21 a and the distal surface of the distal portion15. On the other hand, the convex stopping portions 25 a are engageablyinserted to be disposed at the stop groove 32 under the state where theinsertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is disposed in the inner spaceof the insertion portion cover 10 as shown in the upper half of thedrawing of FIG. 5. Consequently, the distal portion body 21 is moved tothe distal end side of the distal portion 15 into a predetermined statewhere the back surface of the closing window portion 21 a is adheredwith the distal surface of the distal portion 15. Thereby, observationby the endoscope may favorably be performed through the closing windowportion 21 a in the endoscope 2.

On the other hand, a rotating device 40 constituting the endoscopeinsertion ancillary device 3 includes, for example, an arm portion 41and a rotating mechanism portion 42. One end of the arm portion 41 isplaced at the seal of an inspecting room. The arm portion 41 includes aplurality of arm members 41 a, for example, having different lengths,and joint portions 41 b for connecting adjacent arm members 41 a in arotatable manner. The rotating mechanism portion 42 is placed at anotherend of the arm portion 41. Thereby, the rotating mechanism portion 42may be moved to any position with a slight force.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rotating mechanism portion 42 includes arotating portion body 43, a motor 44, a rotating power transmissionmember 45 which is a rotating portion, and a guidance duct holdingportion 46. The motor 44 generates the driving power for rotating thespiral duct 24 in the predetermined direction of the spiral ductlongitudinal axis rotation (hereinafter, abbreviated as axis rotation).The motor 44 is fixedly provided at, for example, a side wall of therotating portion body 43.

The rotating power transmission member 45 is integrally fixed to themotor axis 44 a of the motor 44. The rotating power transmission member45 is formed by a resin member, a rubber member, or the like havingelasticity. The guidance duct holding portion 46 is disposed at theposition opposing the rotating power transmission member 45 fixed to themotor axis 44 a. The guidance duct holding portion 46 is fixed, forexample, at the bottom of the rotating portion body 43. A curved surfaceor a concave portion of hemispherical shape (not shown) whichapproximately matches the outline shape of the spiral duct 24 or theproximal portion body 22 is formed on the surface portion of theguidance duct holding portion 46 opposing the rotating powertransmission member 45. The spiral duct 24 constituting the introducingduct 20 is to be disposed between the rotating power transmission member45 and the concave portion of the guidance duct holding portion 46 asshown in the drawing.

In the state where convex stopping portions 25 a are disposed at thecircumferential groove 31 as shown in FIG. 5, the spiral duct 24constituting the introducing duct 20 in which the insertion portion 11of the endoscope 2 is disposed is to be disposed between the rotatingpower transmission member 45 and the guidance duct holding portion 46.Then, the motor 44 is driven. Consequently, the rotating powertransmission member 45 integrally fixed to the motor axis 44 a isrotated, and the rotation force is transmitted to the spiral duct 24.Here, the introducing duct 20 is smoothly rotated relative to the axisrotation with respect to the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 byrespectively integrally fixing both end portions of the spiral duct 24to the distal portion body 21 and the proximal portion body 22, byintegrally providing the cover member 23 to the bodies 21 and 22, and byproviding the space 33 between the back surface 21 d of the closingwindow portion 21 a and the distal surface of the of the distal portion15.

An operation of the insertion device 1 constructed as described abovewill be described.

First, a medical personnel (abbreviated as staff) prepares the endoscope2 and the introducing duct 20 constituting and the endoscope insertionancillary device 3. Moreover, the rotating mechanism portion 42 isdisposed at the predetermined position by moving the arm portion 41 ofthe rotating device 40 constituting the endoscope insertion ancillarydevice 3.

Next, the desired site, for example, the proximal portion side of thespiral duct 24 constituting the introducing duct 20 is disposed betweenthe guidance duct holding portion 46 and the rotating power transmissionmember 45 constituting the rotating mechanism portion 42. Thereby theproximal portion side of the introducing duct 20 is held by the rotatingmechanism portion 42. Then, the distal portion side of the introducingduct 20 is disposed, for example, on a bed 7.

Next, the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is inserted into theinner portion of the introducing duct 20 from the aperture of theproximal portion body 22 constituting the introducing duct 20. Then,convex stopping portions 25 a provided at the proximal portion body 22are disposed at the circumferential groove 31. Thereby, the insertionportion 11 of the endoscope 2 is covered by the insertion portion cover10 provided at the introducing duct 20 and the preparation forintroducing the endoscope 2 into the colon is completed. At this time,the space 33 is formed between the proximal surface of the distalportion body 21 and the distal surface of the distal portion 15 as shownin the lower half of the drawing of FIG. 5. Note that the light sourcedevice 4, the video processor 5, and the monitor 6 which are peripheraldevice are also prepared with preparation of the endoscope 2, theintroducing duct 20, and the rotating device 40.

A procedure for inserting the endoscope 2 covered by the introducingduct 20 into the colon will be described.

At first, an operator (not shown) holds the distal side of theintroducing duct 20. Then, the distal portion of the introducing duct 20is inserted into the anus of the patient 8 lying on the bed 7.Consequently, the spiral portion 24 b formed on the outer surface of thespiral duct 24 provided at the introducing duct 20 is made to contactthe bowel wall. At this time, the contact state of the spiral portion 24b and the bowel wall resembles that of male and female screws. Moreover,an endoscope image captured by image pickup device of the endoscope 2through the closing window portion 21 a is displayed on the screen ofthe monitor 6.

In the state where the spiral portion 24 b and the bowel wall are madeto contact each other, the motor 44 of the rotating mechanism portion 42is rotatably driven. Consequently, the rotating power transmissionmember 45 is rotated to transmit the rotating power to the spiral duct24 disposed between the rotating power transmission member 45 and theguidance duct holding portion 46 as described above. Thereby, theintroducing duct 20 is rotated in the axis rotation direction as shownby the arrow in FIG. 7.

In the rotation state, a force such as that for moving a male screw withrespect to a female screw is generated at the contact portion betweenthe spiral portion 24 b of the spiral duct 24 constituting the rotatedintroducing duct 20 and the bowel wall, and a propulsion power foradvancing the introducing duct 20 is generated. That is, the introducingduct 20 is deeply advanced into the colon by the propulsion power.Consequently, the convex stopping portions 25 a provided at the proximalportion body 22 constituting the introducing duct 20 contact the distalside wall 31 a of the circumferential groove 31 and the propulsion powergenerated at the introducing duct 20 is transmitted to the endoscope 2.

Thereby, the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 can be introducedtoward the deep portion of the colon by the propulsion power with theintroducing duct held by the operator. Here, the introducing duct 20 inwhich the insertion portion 11 is disposed is introduced toward theintracavital deep portion by a slight force by performing a handoperation for advancing the introducing duct 20.

That is, the introducing duct 20 in which the insertion portion 11 ofthe endoscope 2 is inserted to be disposed inserted from an anus 71 isadvanced toward the sigmoid colon 73 from the rectum 72 by thepropulsion power and by hand manipulation and bending manipulation andthe like performed by the operator. Then, the introducing duct 20 in therotating state passes through the sigmoid colon 73, and after that,reaches, for example, near the cecum portion 79 which is the observationtarget portion as shown in FIG. 8 by passing through the bending portionwhich is the bend between the sigmoid colon 73 and the descending colon74 which is difficult to move through, the splenic flexure 76 which isthe bend between the descending colon 74 and the transverse colon 75which is easy to move through, and the liver curvature 77 which is thebend between the transverse colon 75 and the ascending colon 78.

When the operator judges that the distal portion body 21 of theintroducing duct 20 has reached near the cecum portion 79 from theendoscope image displayed on the screen of the monitor 6, the driving ofthe motor 44 is stopped by, for example, instruction to the staff. Then,convex stopping portions 25 a are engageably inserted to be disposedfrom the circumferential groove 31 to the stop groove 32 by moving theproximal portion body 22. Thereby, the back surface 21 d of the closingwindow portion 21 a enters an adherent state with the distal surface ofthe distal portion 15, and a good-quality endoscope image desired by theoperator is displayed on the screen of the monitor 6. Here, the operatordraws back the insertion portion 11 to perform endoscope inspection inthe colon.

Then, after finishing the inspection, the insertion portion 11 of theendoscope 2 is withdrawn from the introducing duct 20 and theintroducing duct 20 is discarded whereas the insertion portion 11 of theendoscope 2 is inserted into a new introducing duct 20 not yet used.This makes it possible to carry out the next inspection without the needfor cleaning and disinfection of the endoscope 2.

In this manner, the introducing duct is constituted by integrally fixingend portions of the spiral duct and the cover member to the distalportion body and proximal portion body, and the stop convex portionsprovided at the proximal portion body of the introducing duct are freelydisposed at the circumferential groove provided at the handling portionof the endoscope. Then, the rotating power of the rotating powertransmission member rotated by the motor provided at the rotatingmechanism portion is transmitted to the spiral duct to rotate theintroducing duct. Consequently, the propulsion power for introducing theintroducing duct toward the deep portion of the colon can be obtained,and the introducing duct is moved by the propulsion power. At this time,the propulsion power generated at the introducing duct is transmitted tothe endoscope as the convex stopping portions contact the distal sidewall of the circumferential groove, so that the insertion portion of theendoscope can be introduced toward the deep portion of the colon by thepropulsion power generated at the spiral duct constituting theintroducing duct.

Further, end portions of the cover member disposed at the innercircumferential surface side of the spiral duct provided at theintroducing duct are adherently disposed to the distal portion body andthe proximal portion body in a water-tight manner to constitute theinsertion portion cover. Thereby, insertion portion can surely beprevented from directly contacting body walls and the like duringinspection by inserting and disposing the insertion portion of theendoscope into the insertion portion cover provided at the insertiontube.

Therefore, after finishing the inspection, the insertion portion of theendoscope is withdrawn from the introducing duct and the introducingduct is discarded whereas the withdrawn endoscope is combined with a newintroducing duct to be reused without implementing cleaning anddisinfection, so that the staff is relieved from troublesome cleaningand disinfection of the endoscope and the introducing duct at the end ofinspection.

Note that in the embodiment, a colon is described as an example of alumer in which the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 covered withthe introducing duct 20 is inserted. However, a lumer to which theinsertion portion 11 is inserted is not limited to a colon and may be alumer and the like such as from an oral cavity, an esophagus, a stomach,to a small bowel and the like.

In addition, a rotating direction of the introducing duct 20 in theembodiment may be only one direction which is an advancing direction,but the rotating direction may be switched between the advancingdirection and retreating direction at a constant cycle or random timing.In this manner, by combining the rotations performed in the advancingand the retreating operations, in the event that the distal end of theintroducing duct 20 becomes stuck in a small concave section or the likeof a wall of the bowel when advancing, it can be released by performinga retreating operation. Then, when advancing again, the introducing ductis smoothly advanced without becoming stuck again because the portionsof the bowel and the introducing duct 20 are delicately shifted.

Further, the stopping portion may be constituted by concave stoppingportions 34 as shown in FIG. 9 instead of forming the stop groove 32.Thereby, the proximal portion side of the introducing duct 20 may beprevented from moving in the circumferential direction in the statewhere the proximal surface of the distal portion body 21 contacts thedistal surface of the distal portion 15.

When forming the concave stopping portions 34, inclined surfaces 35 areprovided whose outer diameter increases toward the concave stoppingportions 34 from the circumferential groove 31 between thecircumferential groove 31 and the concave stopping portions 34. Thereby,convex stopping portions 25 a can be smoothly moved from thecircumferential groove 31 to the stop groove 32 with a slight force.

In addition, eyemarks 27 are provided for informing an operator or astaff of the position of the convex stopping portions 25 a at the outercircumferential surface of the proximal portion body 22 constituting theintroducing duct 20 as shown in FIG. 11. Thereby, the convex stoppingportions 25 a can be surely moved from the circumferential groove 31 tothe concave stopping portions 34 at one time by carrying out a shiftingoperation for shifting the proximal portion body 22 to the proximal sidein the state where the eyemarks 27 and the concave stopping portion 34have the same position.

A construction and operation of another construction of the introducingduct having an insertion portion cover will be described with referenceto FIG. 12 to FIG. 17.

As shown in FIG. 12, the introducing duct 20A of the embodimentcomprises an insertion portion cover 10A as insertion portion coveringmeans and a spiral duct 24. The insertion portion cover 10A includes adistal portion body 21, a proximal portion body 22, and a cover member23, and the spiral duct 24 is disposed in a rotatable manner withrespect to the distal portion body 21 and a proximal portion body 51.

The proximal portion body 51 is tubular and is formed by a resin member.An O ring providing circumferential groove 51 a in which an O ring 53 isdisposed on the proximal side inner circumferential surface of theproximal portion body 51 is formed. The O ring 53 is fix menas forintegrally fixedly providing the proximal portion body 51 at apredetermined position of a crack stop 12 a, and is disposed in awater-tight and adherent manner by a predetermined bias power withrespect to the outer circumferential surface of the crack stop 12 a.

A first shoulder 51 b and a second shoulder 51 c are formed in thisorder from the distal side on the distal side outer circumferentialsurface of the proximal portion body 51. Another end of the cover member23 is fixed in a water-tight manner by, for example, adhesion at thefirst shoulder 51 b. Thereby, an insertion portion cover 10A in whichthe cover member 23 is fixed to the distal portion body 21 and theproximal portion body 51 in a water-tight manner and having an elongatedinner space is constituted.

A circular member 52 is a hard member, for example, stainless-steel andis formed to have a predetermined thickness. The circular member 52 isintegrally fixedly provided by, for example, adhesion so as to beattached firmly to the wall surface formed at the second shoulder 21 cof the distal portion body 21.

Each end portion of the spiral duct 24 of the embodiment is disposed atthe second shoulder 21 c of the distal portion body 21 and at the secondshoulder 51 c of the proximal portion body 51 in a rotatable manner.Consequently, in the embodiment, the spiral duct 24 constituting theintroducing duct 20A is constituted to rotate with respect to the distalportion body 21 and the proximal portion body 51 in place of therotation of the introducing duct 20.

In addition, in the spiral duct 24 of the embodiment, for example, aspace t having a predetermined size is formed at least between one endsurface of the spiral duct 24 and the end surface of the circular member52 fixedly provided at the second shoulder 21 c of the distal portionbody 21 or between another end surface of the spiral duct 24 and thewall surface formed at the second shoulder 51 c of the proximal portionbody 51.

The other constructions are the same as in the embodiment describeabove, so that the same reference numerals are applied to the samemembers to skip the description.

An operation of the insertion apparatus 1 equipped with the introducingduct 20A constructed as described above will be described.

First, a staff prepares an endoscope 2 and an introducing duct 20A anddisposing a rotating mechanism portion 42 at a desired position bymoving the arm portion 41 of the rotating device 40.

Next, a desired portion, for example, the proximal portion side of thespiral duct 24 constituting the introducing duct 20A is disposed betweenthe guidance duct holding portion 46 and the rotating power transmissionmember 45 constituting the rotating mechanism portion 42. Thereby, theproximal portion side of the introducing duct 20A is held by therotating mechanism portion 42.

Then, the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is inserted into theintroducing duct 20 from the aperture of the proximal portion body 51constituting the introducing duct 20A. Then, the O ring 53 provided atthe proximal portion body 51 is attached firmly to the crack stop 12 aprovided at the endoscope 2 and a water-tight state is held.

Thereby, the proximal portion body 51 is integrally fixed to theproximal portion body 51 by the bias power of the O ring 53. In thefixedly provided state, the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 iscovered by the insertion portion cover 10A provided at the introducingduct 20A and the preparation for introducing the endoscope 2 into, forexample, a colon is finished. At this time, the proximal surface of thedistal portion body 21 and the distal surface of the distal portion 15is attached firmly as shown in upper half portion of the drawing of FIG.5. Note that a light source device 4, a video processor 5, and a monitor6 which are peripheral device are also prepared with preparation of theendoscope 2, the introducing duct 20, and the rotating device 40.

Here, a procedure for inserting the endoscope 2 covered by theintroducing duct 20A into a colon will be described.

First, an operator (not shown) holds the distal side of the introducingduct 20A. Then, the distal portion of the introducing duct 20A isinserted into the anus of the patient 8 lying on the bed 7.Consequently, the spiral portion 24 b formed on the outer surface thespiral duct 24 provided at the introducing duct 20 is made to contactthe bowel wall. At this time, the contact state of the spiral portion 24b and the bowel wall resembles that of male and female screws. Moreover,a good-quality endoscope image captured by image pickup device of theendoscope 2 through the closing window portion 21 a is displayed on thescreen of the monitor 6.

In the state where the spiral portion 24 b and the bowel wall are madeto contact each other, the motor 44 of the rotating mechanism portion 42is rotatably driven. Consequently, the rotating power transmissionmember 45 is rotated to transmit the rotating power to the spiral duct24 disposed between the rotating power transmission member 45 and theguidance duct holding portion 46. Thereby, only the spiral duct 24constituting the introducing duct 20 is rotated around the axis as shownby the arrow in the FIG. 7. Consequently, the propulsion power isgenerated at the contact portion between the spiral portion 24 b of therotated spiral duct 24 and bowel wall. Thereby, the spiral duct 24 ismoved toward the direction of the circular member 52 as shown in thearrow in FIG. 13.

Then, the propulsion power generated at the spiral duct 24 istransmitted to the introducing duct 20A through the distal portion body21 by the contact of the distal end of the spiral duct 24 and thecircular member 52, and the introducing duct 20A is moved into theintracavital deep portion by the propulsion power. In this state, as theintroducing duct 20A is integrally provided with respect to theinsertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2, the insertion portion 11 isalso introduced toward the deep portion with the introducing duct 20Amoved toward the intracavital deep portion by the propulsion power.Therefore, the introducing duct 20A in which the insertion portion 11 ofthe endoscope 2 is integrally disposed is introduced toward theintracavital deep portion by a slight force by performing a handoperation for advancing the introducing duct 20A by the operator.

In this manner, each end portion of the spiral duct 24 constituting theintroducing duct integrally provided with respect to the insertionportion of the endoscope is provided in a rotatable manner at the distalportion body and the proximal portion body. Then, the rotating power ofthe rotating power transmitting member rotated by the motor provided inthe rotating mechanism portion is transmitted to the spiral duct 24.Consequently, the spiral duct becomes a rotating state with respect tothe distal portion body and the proximal portion body constituting theintroducing duct to be able to obtain the propulsion power forintroducing the introducing duct toward the deep portion. Subsequently,the spiral duct in the rotating state moved by the propulsion powercontacts the circular member fixedly provided at the distal portionbody. Thereby, the propulsion power generated at the spiral duct can betransmitted to the introducing duct through the distal portion bodywithout decrement. The other operation and effect are the same as in theembodiment described above.

Note that the distal portion body 55 may be constituted by a distalmember 56 and a closing window member 57 as the introducing duct 20Bshown in FIG. 14. The distal member 56 is tubular and a first shoulder21 b and a second shoulder 21 c are provided at the outercircumferential surface proximal portion side of the distal member 56.The closing window member 57 is an optical member made of, for example,a resin constituting a closing window and provided at the distal surfaceof the distal member 56.

Thereby, the distal member 56 can be formed not of a resin member havingoptical property but commodity type resin member. In this construction,the insertion portion cover 10B is fixed to the distal portion body 55equipped with the closing window member 57 and the proximal portion body51 with the cover member 23 in a water-tight manner to constitute anelongated inner space. The other construction and operation/effect arethe same as in the embodiment described above.

Further, an O ring providing circumferential groove 56 a may be formedon the inner circumferential surface of the distal portion member 56 forthe distal portion body 55 to provide an O ring 58 having approximatelythe same operation as the O ring 53, that is, having a predeterminedbias power.

Thereby, the O ring 58 is integrally press-disposed with respect to theouter circumferential surface of the distal portion 15 of the insertionportion 11 provided at the inner portion of the distal portion body 55by the elastic force. Accordingly, the distal portion body 55 is alsofixed with respect to the insertion portion 11 in addition to theproximal portion body 51, so that the introducing duct 20B can moresurely integrally be fixed at the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope2. The other construction and operation/effect are the same as in theembodiment described above.

Further, the distal portion body 55 may be constituted by a distalmember 59 and a closing window member 57 as the introducing duct 20Cshown in FIG. 15. The distal member 59 also serves as fixing means andis formed in a tubular shape of an elastic member. A first shoulder 21 band a second shoulder 21 c are provided at the outer circumferentialsurface proximal portion side of the distal member 59. The trough-holeof the distal member 59 is constituted by a tapered surface 59 a forforming a distal side and a guide surface 59 b for forming a proximalside. Inner diameter of the tapered surface 59 a is gradually narrowedby a predetermined amount than outer diameter of the distal portion 15toward from the closing window member 57 side to the proximal side. Theinner diameter of the proximal side of the guide surface 59 b issomewhat lager than the outer diameter of the distal portion 15 and theinner diameter is gradually narrowed toward the distal side.

Therefore, the distal portion body 55 and insertion portion 11 of thedistal portion 15 can be integrally fixed by the elastic force bydisposing the distal portion 15 of the insertion portion 11 at apredetermined position against the elastic force of the distal portionbody 55. The other construction and operation/effect are the same as inthe embodiment described above.

Moreover, stopping grooves 15 a and 12 c for preventing the distalportion body (not shown) and the proximal portion body (not shown) to bedisplaced or rotated in the circumference direction may be formed at thedistal portion 15 of the endoscope 2 and the distal side portion 12 b ofthe handling portion 12 as positional displacement prevention groovesserving as fixing means or displace preventing means as shown in FIG.16. When forming the stopping grooves 15 a and 12 c, not shown convexportions engageably inserted to be disposed at the stopping grooves 15 aand 12 c are respectively provided at the distal portion body and theproximal portion body.

Further, for the introducing duct 20D show in FIG. 17, a continuous hole51 d for communicating the outer portion of the body portion and theinner hole of the body portion is provided at the distal portion body 51as shown in FIG. 4. A cap portion 60 is provided at the continuous hole51 d, and an aspiration tube 62 extended from an aspiration pump 61 isconnected to the cap portion 60.

Then, the air between the insertion portion 11 and the cover member 23is aspirated by the aspiration pump 61 in the state where the insertionportion 11 of the endoscope 2 is inserted to be disposed in theinsertion cover 10B constituting the introducing duct 20D. Consequently,the cover member 23 adheres to the insertion portion 11 of the endoscope2.

Thereby, the spiral duct 24 rotated by the motor 44 in the rotatingmechanism portion 42 is prevented from contacting to the cover member 23and the occurrence of defects such as a perforation, a tear and the likecan be surly prevented. The other construction and operation/effect arethe same as in the embodiment described above.

A construction and operation of another construction of the introducingduct having an insertion portion cover will be described with referenceto from FIG. 18 to FIG. 23.

An insertion portion cover 10C which is insertion portion covering isconstituted by an elastic cover tube 81 and a proximal portionconstituting member 82 for the introducing duct 20E of the embodiment asshown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19. In addition, a spiral duct 24 is providedin a rotatable manner on the outer circumferential surface of theelastic cover tube 81.

The elastic cover tube 81 is formed by, for example, elongated andflexible Teflon™ resin having a small friction resistance. A firstthrough-hole 81 a, a second through-hole 81 b, and a third through-hole81 c are provided in the elastic cover tube 81. A flange portion 81 d isprovided at the distal portion of the elastic cover tube 81.

The first through-hole 81 a is a through-hole for inserting theinsertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2. Accordingly, a closing windowmember 57 for sealing the distal side aperture of the first through-hole81 a is fixed at the distal surface of the flange portion 81 d of theelastic cover tube 81 so that a water-tight state is ensured.

The second through-hole 81 b is an air and water supply channel.Accordingly, an air and water supply nozzle 83 is fixedly provided atthe distal portion of the second through-hole 81 b. The aperture of theair and water supply 83 is opposing the closing window member 57.Accordingly, when, for example, carrion and the like are attached to theclosing window member 57, the attached carrion can be flushed away byejecting, for example, water as shown in the arrow from the aperture ofthe air and water supply nozzle 83. Further, drop of water and the likeattached to the surface of the closing window member 57 can be removedby, for example, ejecting air from the aperture of the air and watersupply nozzle 83.

Then, the third through-hole 81 c is an aspiration channel.

The spiral tube 24 is provided at the outer circumferential surface ofthe elastic cover tube 81 in a rotatable manner. Dropout of the spiraltube 24 is prevented by providing the flange portion 81 d at the distalportion of the elastic cover tube 81. Note that the circular member 52may also be provided at the wall surface of the distal side formed bythe flange portion 81 d in the embodiment.

On the other hand, the proximal portion constituting member 82 is formedby a tubular resin member and the proximal surface of the spiral duct 24contacts at the distal surface side of the proximal portion constitutingmember 82. A first concave portion 82 a in which the proximal portion ofthe elastic cover tube 81 is engageably inserted to be disposed isprovided at the distal side portion of the proximal portion constitutingmember 82. On the other hand, a second concave portion 82 b in which thedistal side portion of the handling portion 12 of the endoscope 2 isprovided is provided at the proximal side portion of the proximalportion constituting member 82. The first concave portion 82 a and thesecond concave portion 82 b are communicated by a through hole 82 chaving an inner diameter where the insertion portion 11 can passthrough.

In addition, an air and water supply hole 82 d which is a continuoushole communicated with the second through-hole 81 b provided at theelastic cover tube 81 and a hole for aspiration (not shown) which is acontinuous hole communicated with the third through-hole 81 c atpredetermined positions of the proximal portion constituting member 82.Duct line connecting members 84 are respectively provided at end of theair and water supply hole 82 d and the aspiration hole.

An air and water supply duct line 85 a extended from the air and watersupply device 85 is connected with the duct line connecting member 84provided at the hole for the air and water supply 82 d. On the otherhand, an aspiration duct line (not shown) extended from an aspirationdevice (not shown) is connected with the duct line connecting member(not shown) provided at the hole for aspiration.

The air and water supply device 85 and the aspiration device areelectrically connected with, for example, the video processor 5 in theembodiment. Moreover, an air and water supply push-button switch(hereinafter, abbreviated as first switch) 87 and an aspirationpush-button switch (hereinafter, abbreviated as second switch) 88 areprovided at the handling portion 12 of the endoscope 2.

The first switch 87 includes a button portion 87 b having a detectingportion 87 a and sensors 87 c and 87 d for detecting the detectingportion 87 a. Correspondingly, the second switch 88 includes a buttonportion 88 b having a detecting portion 88 a and sensor 88 c fordetecting the detecting portion 88 a. Note that reference numeral 89 arefers to a spring for biasing the button portions 87 c and 88 b to theposition in the drawing. Reference numeral 89 b refers to signal linesextended from each sensor 87 c, 87 d, and 88 c and are electricallyconnected to the video processor 5.

Thereby, the air and water supply device 85 becomes air supply statewhen, for example, the button portion 87 b of the first switch 87 ispush operated and the position of the detecting portion 87 a is detectedby the sensor 87 c. Then, the air and water supply device 85 is to beshifted from air supply state to water supply state when the buttonportion 87 b is push operated and the position of the detecting portion87 a is detected by the sensors 87 d. On the other hand, the aspirationdevice becomes aspiration state when, for example, the button portion 88b of the second switch 88 is push operated and the detecting portion 88a is detected by the sensor 88 c.

In this manner, the diameter of the introducing portion can be reducedby providing only a closing window 18 constituting an observationoptical system and an illumination window 19 constituting anillumination optical system at the distal surface of the insertionportion 11 in the endoscope 2A of the embodiment which is inserted to bedisposed in the first through-hole 81 a of the elastic cover tube 81 byproviding the second through-hole 81 b for air and water supply and thethird through-hole 81 c for aspiration at the elastic cover tube.

Note that an electromagnetic valve 90 may be provided at a half wayportion of an air supply duct line 85 b and a water supply duct line 85c extended form, for example, the air and water supply device 85 and anaspiration duct line 85 d extended from the aspiration device (notshown), at the same time, an air supplying touch censer 91, a watersupplying touch censer 92 a, and an aspirating touch censer 91 a may beprovided at switch portions 91, 92, and 93 provided at, for example, thehandling portion 12 as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21. Thereby, airsupply, water supply, and aspiration can be carried out by changing theduct line corresponding to the operated touch sensor to open state.Water supply is performed by operating the water supplying touch censer92 a to shift an air supplying piston 91 b and a water supplying piston92 b to open the air duct line 85 b and water duct line 85 c in FIG. 21.

Sensors provided at the switch portions 91, 92, and 93 are not limitedto the touch censers 91 a, 92 a, and 93 a and may be photo censers orthe like. Further, the switch portions 91, 92, and 93 may be a dialswitch 94 equipped with a rotatable dial as shown in the arrow in FIG.22. In the dial switch, positions of each piston 91 b, 92 b, and 93 bare changed in accordance with a rotation position of the dial.Accordingly, adjustment of ejecting amount and adjustment of aspirationamount may be performed during water and air supply by shifting arotation position of the dial switch 94.

In addition, a second through-hole 81 b, and a third through-hole 81 cmay be provided to sandwich a first through-hole 81 a in which theinsertion portion 11 of the endoscope 2 is inserted to be provided asthe introducing duct 20F shown in FIG. 23. Thereby, the balance of theflexibility of the introducing duct 20F is approximately maintained atcomparable level in up and down directions as well as in left and rightdirections as compared to the constitution of the introducing duct 20Ein which the air and water supply channel and the aspiration channel areprovided at one side of the distal surface of the insertion portion 11as shown in FIG. 18.

A construction and an operation thereof of the introducing duct havingcharacteristics in the constitution of the spiral duct will be describedwith reference to FIG. 24.

A constitution of the spiral duct 100 disposed at outer circumferentialsurface side of the cover member 23 is different from the embodimentsdescribed above for the introducing duct 20G of the embodiment as shownin FIG. 24. The spiral duct 100 includes a single layer portion 101having good flexibility and a plural layers portion 102 having apredetermined flexibility although harder than the single layer portion101. The single layer portion 101 is constituted by winding a singlemetal wire in the spiral manner and the plural layers portion 102 isconstituted by winding two metal wires in the spiral manner.

Moreover, the single layer portion 101 is disposed to cover the bendingsection 16 of the insertion portion 11 and the vicinity thereof.Accordingly, when the bending section 16 is bent, the desired bendingoperation is performed without losing bending property of the bendingsection 16 by providing the single layer portion 101 to the bendingsection 16. Correspondingly, the plural layers portion 102 is disposedto cover the flexible duct portion 17 at the proximal side than thebending section 16. Therefore the rotation power of the rotating powertransmission member 45 is effectively transmitted to the spiral duct 100by disposing the rotating power transmission member 45 rotated by themotor 44 provided in the rotating mechanism portion 42 to the plurallayers portion 102.

Note that the distal portion body 103 includes a tubular distal ductmember 104 provided with a first shoulder 104 a, a second shoulder 104b, and a retaining 104 c at the proximal portion side and a closingwindow member 57 provided at the distal surface of the distal ductmember 104 in the embodiment. Thereby, the single layer portion 101 isdisposed at the second shoulder 104 b with covered state by theretaining 104 c provided at the distal duct member 104. Therefore thesingle layer portion 101 can surely be prevented from dropping off fromthe distal duct member 104.

Another construction and operation thereof of the introducing ducthaving characteristics in the constitution of the spiral duct will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 25. The insertion portion cover 10Dcomprises a first cover portion 111 and a second cover portion 112 forthe introducing duct 20H of the embodiment as shown in FIG. 20. Thefirst cover portion 111 covers the bending section 16 and the vicinitythereof of the insertion portion 11. The second cover portion 112 coversthe flexible duct portion 17 at the proximal side than the bendingsection 16.

The first cover portion 111 includes a tubular distal duct member 113, aclosing window member 57, a tubular half way portion duct member 114,and a first cover member 23 a. The distal portion body includes thedistal duct member 113 and the closing window member 57. The ends of thefirst cover member 23 a are fixed to the distal duct member 113 and thehalf way portion duct member 114 in a water-tight manner. Accordingly, ashoulder 113 a and a shoulder 114 a in which the first cover member 23 ais fixed in a water-tight manner are respectively provided on theproximal portion outer circumferential surface of the distal duct member113 and the distal portion outer circumferential surface of the half wayportion duct member 114.

On the other hand, the second cover portion 112 includes a half wayportion duct member 114, a proximal portion body 51 not shown, and asecond cover member 23 b. The ends of the second cover member 23 b arefixed to the half way portion duct member 114 and the proximal portionbody 51 in a water-tight manner. Moreover, a spiral duct 24 is to beformed at the outer circumferential side of the second cover member 23b. A first shoulder 114 b and a second shoulder 114 c are provided onthe proximal portion outer circumferential surface of the half wayportion duct member 114. The second cover member 23 b is fixed at thefirst shoulder 114 b in a water-tight manner. The spiral duct 24 isprovided in a rotatable manner at the second shoulder 114 c.

Note that the half way portion duct member 114 is to be integrallyprovided at the distal side portion of the flexible duct portion 17 by,for example, elastic force. Thereby, the bending section 16 covered withthe first cover portion 111 is bent without losing bending property.

A construction and operation of still another construction of theintroducing duct having an insertion portion cover will be describedwith reference to from FIG. 26 to FIG. 29.

An insertion portion cover 10E which is insertion portion covering meansincludes a distal portion body 121, a proximal portion body 51, and acover member 123 for the introducing duct 20K of the embodiment as shownin FIG. 26. The spiral duct 24 is disposed in a rotatable manner withrespect to the distal portion body 121 and the proximal portion body 51.In addition, a circular member 52 is fixedly provided at a predeterminedposition of the distal portion body 121.

The cover member 123 is an elongated and thin-walled elastic memberhaving optical transparency and one end is constituted as a pouchedportion 123 a and another end is constituted as an aperture.

The distal portion body 121 is tubular and formed by a resin member. Ashoulder 121 a in which the spiral duct 24 is disposed in a rotatablemanner is formed on the proximal portion side outer circumferentialsurface of the cover member 123. A predetermined position of the covermember 123 is integrally adherently fixed by, for example, adhesion onthe inner circumferential surface of the distal portion body 121.Thereby, the pouched portion 123 a of the cover member 123 projects apredetermined amount from the distal surface of the distal portion body121. The distal portion aperture of the cover member 123 is fixed to thefirst shoulder portion 51 b of the proximal portion body 51 in awater-tight manner by, for example, adhesion.

Each ends of the spiral duct 24 are disposed at the shoulder 121 a ofthe distal portion body 21 and the second shoulder 51 c of the proximalportion body 51 in a rotatable manner. The circular member 52 isintegrally fixedly provided to a wall face formed at the shoulder 121 aof the distal portion body 121 by, for example, adhesion. The otherconstruction is the same as the embodiment describe above, so that thesame reference numeral is applied to the same member to skip thedescription.

Accordingly, when the insertion portion 133 of the endoscope 132 inwhich the distal surface 131 is constituted by a plane surface as shownin FIG. 27 or the insertion portion 136 of the endoscope 135 in whichthe distal surface 134 is constituted by, for example, a curved surfaceas shown in FIG. 28 is inserted into the insertion portion cover 10E ofthe introducing duct 20K of the embodiment, the pouched portion 123 a isdeformed to be adherently disposed so as to fit with the distal surfaceshape. Reference numeral 137 refers to a lens for observation andreference numeral 138 refers to a lens for illumination.

In this manner, the cover member constituting the insertion portioncover provided at the introducing duct is formed by the elastic memberand the pouched portion is provided at one end portion. Then, the distalportion of the insertion portion is covered to be disposed at thepouched portion. Thereby, the thin-walled insertion portion cover can beadherently disposed at the distal portion of the insertion portionregardless of the insertion portion distal shape of the endoscopeinserted to be disposed in the insertion portion cover. The otheroperation and effect are the same as in the embodiment described above.

Note that a stopping groove (not shown) may be formed at the distalportion of the endoscope 132 (not shown) and the distal side portion ofthe handling portion (not shown) as displacement preventing means forpreventing displacement of the proximal portion body 51 in thecircumferential direction. Convex portions engageably inserted to bedisposed at the stopping groove are respectively provided at theinsertion portion body and the distal portion body when forming thestopping groove.

In the case where the aperture 141 which doubles an aspiration duct anda treatment device insertion channel is included on the distal surface140 of the endoscope 139 as shown in FIG. 29, the aperture 141 isoperated as an aspiration duct in the state where the insertion portion142 is disposed in the insertion portion cover 10E. Thereby, the pouchedportion 123 a of the insertion portion cover 42 can be surely adhered tothe distal surface 140 to surely prevent displacement and the like ofthe insertion portion cover 123 under inspection.

Note that the present invention is not limited to only the embodimentsdescribed above and various different embodiments may be availablewithout departing from the gist of the present invention.

1. An insertion apparatus, comprising: an introducing duct, including:insertion portion cover portion for covering an insertion portionextending from a distal side portion of a handling portion constitutingan endoscope; and a spiral duct disposed on an inner circumferentialsurface side of the insertion portion cover portion, the spiral ducthaving on a circumferential surface of the spiral duct, a propulsionpower generating portion for applying a propulsion power for introducingthe insertion portion covered by the insertion portion cover into a deepportion in a body cavity, and a rotating device comprising a rotatingportion for rotating the spiral duct equipped to the introducing duct.2. The insertion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertionportion cover portion comprises: a distal portion body comprising aclosing window portion, a cylindrical shape, and an aperture side inwhich one end of the spiral duct is placed, the distal portion bodybeing disposed to cover a distal portion constituting the insertionportion; a proximal portion body having a cylindrical shape and in whichanother end of the spiral duct is disposed, the proximal portion bodybeing disposed at the distal side portion of the handling portion; and aflexible cover member whose ends are disposed in a water-tight mannerwith respect to the distal portion body and the proximal portion body.3. The insertion apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, in aconstitution in which the spiral duct is fixed to the distal portionbody and the proximal portion body, an inner circumferential surface ofthe proximal portion body is provided with a stop convex portion, and anouter circumferential surface of the distal side portion of the handlingportion are provided with a circumferential groove in which the stopconvex portion is freely disposed, and a stopping portion in which thestop convex portion is engageably inserted.
 4. The insertion apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein at least one of a member constituting theproximal portion body and a member constituting the distal side portionof the handling portion is a member having a good tribological property.5. The insertion apparatus according to claim 3, wherein thecircumferential groove is positioned toward the insertion portion by apredetermined interval in a longitudinal axial direction from thestopping portion.
 6. The insertion apparatus according to claim 3,wherein the forming position of the stopping portion is set at aposition such that a distal surface of the distal portion is disposedcontactingly to the closing window portion, in a state where the stopconvex portion is inserted in the stopping portion.
 7. The insertionapparatus according to claim 5, wherein an inclined surface for guidingthe stop convex portion from the circumferential groove to the stoppingportion is provided between the circumferential groove and the stoppingportion which are formed in this order from the insertion portion sidein the longitudinal axial direction.
 8. The insertion apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein, in a constitution in which the spiralduct is rotatably disposed with respect to the distal portion body andthe proximal portion body, at least one of the distal portion body andthe proximal portion body is provided with a fixing portion forintegrally disposing the distal portion body to the distal portionconstituting the insertion portion, or for integrally disposing theproximal portion body to the distal side portion of the handlingportion.
 9. The insertion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, in aconstitution in which the spiral duct is rotatably disposed with respectto the distal portion body and the proximal portion body, the distalportion body is provided with a circular member formed of a rigid memberto which an end surface of the spiral duct contacts.
 10. The insertionapparatus according to claim 8, wherein the fixing portion is an O ringprovided to the distal portion body or the proximal portion body. 11.The insertion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the fixing portionis an elastic member forming the distal portion body.
 12. The insertionapparatus according to claim 8, wherein the fixing portion is a convexportion provided on an inner circumferential surface of the distalportion body or the proximal portion body, and is a concave portionprovided to the insertion portion in a corresponding manner to theconvex portion.
 13. The insertion apparatus according to claim 8,wherein the proximal portion body is provided with a continuous holecommunicating an inner circumferential surface side and an outercircumferential surface side of the proximal portion body.
 14. Theinsertion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion portioncover portion comprises: an elastic cover tube with flexibility having athrough-hole for inserting at least the insertion portion, the elasticcover tube being provided with a wall surface for preventing the spiralduct from dropping off, on a distal portion on an outer circumferentialsurface of the elastic cover tube; a closing window member with anoptical property which is water-tightly disposed to seal a distal sideaperture of the through-hole formed to the elastic cover tube; and aproximal portion constituting member for preventing the spiral duct fromdropping off, the proximal portion constituting member being integrallyfixed to a proximal portion of the elastic cover tube, and provided witha penetration hole communicating to the through-hole.
 15. The insertionapparatus according to claim 14, wherein the elastic cover tube and theproximal portion constituting member are provided with a through-holeand a continuous hole constituting an air and water supply channel, andwith a through-hole and a continuous hole constituting an aspirationchannel.
 16. The insertion apparatus according to claim 15, wherein thethrough-hole or the penetration hole to which the insertion portion isinserted and disposed, is provided sandwiched between the air and watersupply channel and the aspiration channel.
 17. The insertion apparatusaccording to claim 15, wherein the handling portion of the endoscope isprovided with a control switch for controlling the air and water supplydevice and the aspiration device, in a constitution in which thecontinuous hole constituting the air and water supply channel isprovided with a connection portion for connecting to an air and watersupply duct line extending from an air and water supply device, and acontinuous hole constituting the aspiration channel is provided with aconnection portion for connecting to an aspiration duct line extendingfrom an aspiration device.
 18. The insertion apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the distal portion body is configured by a tubulardistal duct member having a tubular shape, and a closing window memberhaving an optical property disposed on a distal surface of the tubulardistal duct member.
 19. The insertion apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the insertion portion cover portion comprises: a pouched covermember having optical transparency for covering the insertion portion; adistal portion body disposed at the distal portion constituting theinsertion portion, the distal portion body having an innercircumferential surface on which the cover member is fixed, and an outercircumferential surface on which the wall surface for preventing thespiral duct from dropping off is provided; and a proximal portion bodydisposed at the distal side portion of the handling portion, to which atubular-shaped end portion on an aperture side of the cover member iswater-tightly fixed, whereas the another end of the spiral duct isrotatably disposed.
 20. The insertion apparatus according to claim 8,wherein a distal portion of the insertion portion or the distal sideportion of the handling portion is provided with a displacementpreventing groove for preventing displacement of the distal portion bodyor the proximal portion body in the circumferential direction.
 21. Theinsertion apparatus according to claim 19, wherein a distal portion ofthe insertion portion or the distal side portion of the handling portionis provided with a displacement preventing groove for preventingdisplacement of the distal portion body or the proximal portion body inthe circumferential direction.